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Read comments on Test # 135 - Mathematics 8-12

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Strategy #1

Study: Books used: Amsco Reviews Algebra, Geometry demystified, Calculus demystified, Cliff's Quick Review of Precalculus. Cliff's Quick Review of Precalculus was the most useful and if I did it all over again I would just buy the Cliff's Quick review for Algebra, Geometry, pre-cal and calculus! They're inexpensive and teach you exactly what you need to know.

Test: Make sure you study probability and logic statements (if p, then q), there's a lot of this on the test. Know you logic symbols. This test wansn't easy. Out of 90 questions, I found 60 of them to be straight forward. The rest I had to think about.

Strategy #2

Study: To study for this exam I basically retaught myself College Algebra, Trig and Calculus in about a month using three books: from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071439285/sr=8-1/qid=1152205711/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7889901-2420132?ie=UTF8 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071421289/qid=1152205798/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-7889901-2420132?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071421351/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/102-7889901-2420132?ie=UTF8 I found that knowing the formulas and knowing the concepts helped tremendously over simply knowing the mathematics.

Test: I found the test to be somewhat easy, the harder parts for me were the statistics (I've never taken stat) and the physics (I've not taken physics in quite a while.) Also the method questoins about software usages and testing methods were quite difficult as I do not have a background in education at all.

Strategy #3

Study: Used te free online state study guide. Took the practice test to determind what areas I needed to focus on. Going through each of the competencies and it was the most useful.

Test: Test ws about what I expected although very long. Take breaks or even take breaks during the test.

Strategy #4

Study: First, let me state that I hadn't taken a math course in over five years before studying for this exam. The state TeXeS preparation manuals were useless, you can get a another study manual from texasstudy (also found in college bookstores) but it's pretty worthless as well considering it had incorrect answers listed as the correct answer for a lot of their study problems. Just go to a bookstore on get online to get the Dymistified books. These books are great for reviewing math. They break up the material by chapter with reviews at the end of each chapter and a final at the end of the book.

Test: The exam was a lot harder than I was expecting, but I did pass on my first try. In my opinion there was more trig on the exam than I would have liked, but each test date brings about a new random exam (so I'm told). There were a wide range of problems, a couple of probability, lots of geometry and trig, a few series, and number concepts. Oddly, on my exam there was maybe only one precal/calculus question. Study hard and you should do just fine.

Strategy #5

Study: I first used the online practice exam and competency list to see what competencies I needed help in. Then I bought the "for dummies" books and cliffs quick review for those areas. I used: Algebra II, Geometry, Precal, Calculus, and Probability. These books, along with the cliff's quick review books, are very helpful and straightforward. They cover most everything you need, and fast.

Test: Spend time studying all subjects, but there was more probability and statistics than I expected. Also, really study Geometry. DO NOT buy the study guide from EdPublishing called Pass the TExES. It was NOT helpful at all, had a lot of errors, and was pretty much a waste of my fifty bucks. Make sure you bring wooden pencils as they do not allow mechanical pencils

Strategy #6

Study: First, I borrowed a book called "Algebra and Trigonomegy - teacher's edition" from the library. Then, I read the first few chapters of "Calculus for Dummies". At last, I studied the "Passthe TExES Math 8-12" from Ed Publishing. The Algebra book with green cover is a very good one. It helps me review a lot of high school materials. The "Pass the TExES" book helps me to go through each topics in a fast manner.

Test: The test was much easier than I expected. But it did cover most basic topics in different areas. You don't need to study a lot of books in details for this test. You'd spend more time on the key concepts that are addressed as competencies in the official study guide.

Strategy #7

Study: I am a math major and haven't taken any sort of basic math since hig school. The best review I found was Cliff's Notes. There are books on basic math, algebra 1 and 2, geometry, ect. The state manuals were not helpful as a review of subjects but are a good source of the test content.

Test: The test was essentially what I expected. There was a lot of Trig on it, however. Make sure you bring a graphing calculator (its allowed) because there is a lot of graphing and solutions on the test

Strategy #8

Study: I used Cliff's notes for: Geometry (excellent book, covers everything you need to know in geometry for the test), algebra I and II, statistics and precalculus. I did not have time to study the Cliff's Notes for trygonometry, but all the other books have already covered the parts of trigonometry that was useful to me on the test. I also recommend the XAM TEXES MATHEMATICS 8-12 135. It is an excellent book for review of all the competencies adressed on the test.

Test: I found the test horribly long. A lot of questions are pretty easy if you've studied well. Some questions (probably 20 of them) require you to spend more time and think more. But in overall, it was the lenght of the test that wore me down, not the level of difficulty.

Strategy #9

Study: I studied the online study guide from the state..and it was useless! The Cliff Notes are the best and I would know Trig and college Calculus. I just took the test April, 2008 and I swear there was like a few algebra questions,all upper leveled calculus and trig. Also, know you Statistics...Lot of it!

Test: It was extremely hard, because I used the study guide ETS has and it was decieving! If I have to do it again I will only study Calculus and Trig.

Strategy #10

Study: The XAM TExES Mathematics 8-12 study guide is a good one, because it covers all the competencies with sample problems. It also has a practice test at the end. What is good about this book is it gives answers to sample problems and practice test, and with the practice test, it works out all the problems for you. Only saw a couple of errors in book. DO NOT BUY Exam Secrets from Morrison Media if you need a good review. The only thing worth anything in the book is the practice exam, except half the problems in the practice exam were too easy. What I would do differently is focus almost all my time on studying geometry and trig.

Test: I went into the test thinking it would be much harder than it really was. What made the test hard was the length of the test. There is lots of graphing and geometry. Know functions inside and out. I did not see very many calculus questions, maybe one or two. Its a good idea to know formulas for area, volume, etc. Some questions gave you a formula to use on sequence questions. Study geometry and trig and a little probability and things should be ok.

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